Iranian state television has made a documentary about the death of Neda Agha Soltan, a young Iranian woman who was shot dead during the June postelection protests in Tehran, suggesting she was an agent of the United States and Britain who staged her own death.

Neda’s last moments were filmed on a cell phone and watched by millions of people around the world, becoming a symbol of democratic resistance to the regime.

The state-television documentary suggests the video of Neda’s dying moments merely depicted her pouring blood on her own face from a special bottle she was carrying. Later, the documentary alleges that 27-year-old Neda was shot dead in the car that was taking her to a hospital.

The conspiracy theory alleged in the documentary is in line with comments by Iranian officials, who have repeatedly described Neda’s death as “suspicious” and a “premeditated scenario” to defame Iran.

The state reaction was prompted by the immense impact of a grainy amateur video shot as Neda participated in a June 20 protest in Tehran.

A new documentary for Iranian television, summarised in a Press TV video, made Neda both a participant and then the sacrifice of the evil scheme: she allegedly threw imitation blood onto her face as part of a faked shoot to discredit the security forces, but she was later slain by the two men who claim to have saved her live: her music teacher and Dr Arash Hejazi.

Hejazi has responded in an interview that this is a “shameless and worthless” attempt to shift blame from security forces by a regime which “has been doing everything it can to distance itself from Neda’s death and throw responsibility on others”.